I. Field
The following relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to determining an efficient data attachment point (DAP) for access terminals in a wireless access network.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as, e.g., voice content, data content, and so on. Typical wireless communication systems can be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems can include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like.
Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems can simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Each mobile device can communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobile devices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from mobile devices to base stations. Further, communications between mobile devices and base stations can be established via single-input single-output (SISO) systems, multiple-input single-output (MISO) systems, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and so forth.
A modern radio access network (RAN) comprising one or more wireless access points (APs) (e.g., including a base station [BS], evolved-base station [eBS], wireless node, and so on) can serve as an interface to circuit-switched communication networks and/or packet-switched communication networks. For packet-switched networks, such as an ultra mobile broadband (UMB) network, a mobile device can communicate wirelessly with a packet-switched backbone network, such as an Internet Protocol (IP)-based network like the Internet or an intranet, via the wireless APs (e.g., an eBS). In such case, the wireless AP can serve as a data attachment point (DAP) through which an IP network access gateway (AGW) of the backbone network routes data to the mobile device.
In a mobile environment, however, the mobile device can move from one geographic location to another. Thus, the mobile device is typically configured to wirelessly access communication networks (e.g., circuit-switched core networks, packet-switched core networks, the Internet, etc.) through multiple disparate wireless access points. Further, in order to maintain a communication as the mobile device communicates with, or attaches to/registers with, different base stations, the DAP may have to be adjusted to accommodate data flow to and from the mobile device as it moves from location to location. As an example, where a call is initiated in Montreal Canada, and a mobile device maintains the call while traveling to Miami, Fla., the DAP typically will be adjusted to various access points along the traveling route. It could be very inefficient, or in some cases impossible, to maintain a DAP in Montreal for the mobile device that arrives in Miami. Accordingly, a network will need to update a DAP of a mobile device and/or data communication as the device moves away from a previous DAP.